Microsoft

Senior Software Development Engineer Interview Experience - Redmond, Washington

March 1, 2015

Negative ExperienceNo Offer

Process

A short phone conversation with a recruiter/HR led to a Skype-based technical screening/interview. After passing the technical screen, I was flown out to Seattle for on-site interviews.

The morning included two one-on-one interviews, followed by a "team-fit" interview over lunch. The afternoon concluded with an interview with the hiring manager.

Each interview was approximately an hour long, with a short break in between.

Questions

Given a particular (naive) run-length compression algorithm, how can you improve the compression ratio of this algorithm without affecting certain properties (streaming, performance, etc.)? Discuss.

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Interview Statistics

The following metrics were computed from 21 interview experiences for the Microsoft Senior Software Development Engineer role in Redmond, Washington.

Success Rate

57%

Pass Rate

Microsoft's interview process for their Senior Software Development Engineer roles in Redmond, Washington is on the easier side as most engineers get an offer after going through it.

Experience Rating

Positive57%

Neutral19%

Negative24%

Candidates reported having very good feelings for Microsoft's Senior Software Development Engineer interview process in Redmond, Washington.

Microsoft Work Experiences

The company provides a great environment to work in, strong technical assets, and many challenges

Senior Software Development Engineer • Current Employee

Redmond, Washington, United States

Pros: Informal yet professional culture. Very qualified and smart co-workers. Good team morale. Opportunities to transfer.

Cons: At times, team-wide pressure to work long hours.

The company provides a great environment to work in, strong technical assets, and many challenges

Senior Software Development Engineer • Current Employee

Redmond, Washington, United States

Pros: Informal yet professional culture. Very qualified and smart co-workers. Good team morale. Opportunities to transfer.

Cons: At times, team-wide pressure to work long hours.

A very good company to work for if you can handle the Pacific Northwest weather

Senior Software Development Engineer • Former Employee

Redmond, Washington, United States

September 23, 2013

Pros: - Very smart people - Good culture - Generally very good compensation, but not the best in the industry - Ability to change teams within Microsoft every 2 years (depending on good performance) - Lots of different teams, all with different ways of operating and work environments. Feels like lots of little companies under a big umbrella (not sure if this is a pro or con).

Cons: - Smart people tend to be not too social. - Can get comfortable. - Lots of long-timers make the company feel like the government. - Top-down direction (depending on your team).

A very good company to work for if you can handle the Pacific Northwest weather

Senior Software Development Engineer • Former Employee

Redmond, Washington, United States

September 23, 2013

Pros: - Very smart people - Good culture - Generally very good compensation, but not the best in the industry - Ability to change teams within Microsoft every 2 years (depending on good performance) - Lots of different teams, all with different ways of operating and work environments. Feels like lots of little companies under a big umbrella (not sure if this is a pro or con).

Cons: - Smart people tend to be not too social. - Can get comfortable. - Lots of long-timers make the company feel like the government. - Top-down direction (depending on your team).

Overall a great learning experience. However, lethargic career growth and lack of opportunities

Senior Software Development Engineer • Current Employee

Redmond, Washington, United States

January 16, 2011

Pros: Difficult challenges. Learn to build large-scale software. Colleagues are pretty smart folks.

Cons: Large and small scale politics. If you upset the wrong person for whatever reason, prepare to have your career derailed. The review process is a joke and widely considered a popularity contest. Being "calibrated" against others in your level band and requiring leadership to decide on the bottom 10% each year. You could have 10 great people on your team, but you have to single out one as a 10%er, which basically means they might as well be fired.

Overall a great learning experience. However, lethargic career growth and lack of opportunities

Senior Software Development Engineer • Current Employee

Redmond, Washington, United States

January 16, 2011

Pros: Difficult challenges. Learn to build large-scale software. Colleagues are pretty smart folks.

Cons: Large and small scale politics. If you upset the wrong person for whatever reason, prepare to have your career derailed. The review process is a joke and widely considered a popularity contest. Being "calibrated" against others in your level band and requiring leadership to decide on the bottom 10% each year. You could have 10 great people on your team, but you have to single out one as a 10%er, which basically means they might as well be fired.

The company provides a great environment to work in, strong technical assets, and many challenges

Senior Software Development Engineer • Current Employee

Redmond, Washington, United States

Pros: Informal yet professional culture. Very qualified and smart co-workers. Good team morale. Opportunities to transfer.

Cons: At times, team-wide pressure to work long hours.

5.0
The company provides a great environment to work in, strong technical assets, and many challenges
Senior Software Development Engineer • Current Employee
Redmond, Washington, United States
May 30, 2014
Pros: Informal yet professional culture. Very qualified and smart co-workers. Good team morale. Opportunities to transfer.
Cons: At times, team-wide pressure to work long hours.

A very good company to work for if you can handle the Pacific Northwest weather

Senior Software Development Engineer • Former Employee

Redmond, Washington, United States

September 23, 2013

Pros: - Very smart people - Good culture - Generally very good compensation, but not the best in the industry - Ability to change teams within Microsoft every 2 years (depending on good performance) - Lots of different teams, all with different ways of operating and work environments. Feels like lots of little companies under a big umbrella (not sure if this is a pro or con).

Cons: - Smart people tend to be not too social. - Can get comfortable. - Lots of long-timers make the company feel like the government. - Top-down direction (depending on your team).

5.0
A very good company to work for if you can handle the Pacific Northwest weather
Senior Software Development Engineer • Former Employee
Redmond, Washington, United States
September 23, 2013
Pros: - Very smart people - Good culture - Generally very good compensation, but not the best in the industry - Ability to change teams within Microsoft every 2 years (depending on good performance) - Lots of different teams, all with different ways of operating and work environments. Feels like lots of little companies under a big umbrella (not sure if this is a pro or con).
Cons: - Smart people tend to be not too social. - Can get comfortable. - Lots of long-timers make the company feel like the government. - Top-down direction (depending on your team).

Overall a great learning experience. However, lethargic career growth and lack of opportunities

Senior Software Development Engineer • Current Employee

Redmond, Washington, United States

January 16, 2011

Pros: Difficult challenges. Learn to build large-scale software. Colleagues are pretty smart folks.

Cons: Large and small scale politics. If you upset the wrong person for whatever reason, prepare to have your career derailed. The review process is a joke and widely considered a popularity contest. Being "calibrated" against others in your level band and requiring leadership to decide on the bottom 10% each year. You could have 10 great people on your team, but you have to single out one as a 10%er, which basically means they might as well be fired.

2.0
Overall a great learning experience. However, lethargic career growth and lack of opportunities
Senior Software Development Engineer • Current Employee
Redmond, Washington, United States
January 16, 2011
Pros: Difficult challenges. Learn to build large-scale software. Colleagues are pretty smart folks.
Cons: Large and small scale politics. If you upset the wrong person for whatever reason, prepare to have your career derailed. The review process is a joke and widely considered a popularity contest. Being "calibrated" against others in your level band and requiring leadership to decide on the bottom 10% each year. You could have 10 great people on your team, but you have to single out one as a 10%er, which basically means they might as well be fired.

Microsoft Interview Questions

Minimum Edge Reversals So Every Node Is Reachable

You're given a directed graph. Determine the minimum number of edges you need to reverse so that every node becomes reachable from node 0.

GraphsDynamic Programming

Two Sum

Find two numbers in a given array that add up to a specific target value, and return their indices. Essentially, you need to efficiently locate the pair that satisfies the sum requirement.

Valid Word

Determine if a given word is considered valid based on a specific set of rules or constraints. The goal is to check if the input string adheres to the specified validation criteria.

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